


Wandering to You

by Hock_hug



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Angst, Falling In Love, M/M, Pining, Wandering heart, brock is good, just a little, travis deserves good things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24850621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hock_hug/pseuds/Hock_hug
Summary: Travis kept his heart close to his chest. At this point, he knew better than to let it wander.
Relationships: Travis Konecny/Brock Boeser
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37
Collections: Pucking Rare - A Hockey Rarepair Challenge





	Wandering to You

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [aimerai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimerai/pseuds/aimerai) in the [PuckingRare2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2020) collection. 



> I also love traveling heart AUs, so I hope you like this one!
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> I'm a sucker for heart sharing/travelling heart/removable heart AUs and would love to see more of them.

Travis didn’t like it when his heart traveled. It made his chest feel hollow and his head spin, so he quickly learned how to keep his heart boarded up. Throughout his teenage years, he dated a few girls, but it always ended with their hearts in his hands and his heart trapped in his chest. When he got drafted, it was a relief. With so much time spent practicing and focusing on hockey, he wouldn’t have any time to waste thinking about love. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite true. 

The first time his heart slipped out after he got drafted, it was for Nolan. Who else would it be? They were playing video games in Travis’s apartment and he looked over at Nolan, who had his head thrown back as he laughed and the world seemed to spin a little slower. Nolan’s eyes were bright and his laughter was like music to Travis’s ears. The entire scene was bathed in golden sunlight flowing through the window, and just for a moment everything seemed perfect.Then he noticed the heart sitting at Nolan’s feet, and everything came crashing down. Nolan seemed to notice at the same time he did, and his laughter stopped abruptly. He picked up the heart and gently cradled it in his hands, inspecting in before handing it back to Travis. Travis’s entire face was burning as he tucked his heart back in his chest.

“Hey, bro,” Nolan crouched in front of him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m flattered, but I don’t date teammates. If I did, it would be you, but I just can’t.” Travis pulled his wits back about him and offered Nolan a shaky smile. 

“Thanks, man. Wanna go another round?”

And then it was over. They went back to the game, and everything eventually went back to normal, or as close as it could get. Travis did a better job of keeping his heart in place, putting up walls around it and keeping it in and keeping people out. Of course, it couldn’t last forever.

Next, it was Kevin. They were drinking on Kevin’s porch and the warm haze flowed through Travis’s veins. A couple of the other guys were inside, but Kevin insisted that Travis come out and see the landscaping he had done. 

“Over here, I got some lilies planted because I think they look pretty dope, and my mom said they “accent the house” or whatever.” Kevin explained, pointing to some flowers that were planted beside the deck. Travis just nodded along, trying not to laugh at Kevin’s rambling. It was endearing, and Travis couldn’t help but smile. Kevin was a good guy, he obviously cared deeply about the team and about his friends and family, and the entire picture of him planting the flowers his mom liked just seemed so soft. It wasn’t until Kevin pulled something red out of the bushes that Travis realized what had happened. Kevin held the heart close to his chest and seemed to stare at it in wonder. Travis cleared his throat and Kevin snapped out of it, and carefully walked over and handed Travis his heart back. Travis put in back inside his chest, maybe a little rougher than he needed to.

“Woah, kid, be careful with that!” Kevin pulled Travis’s hands away from his chest. “You need to treat it right, and you need someone who will treat it right. That’s just not me. I don’t do the whole ‘love’ thing, and you’re way too young for me anyways.”

“Five years isn’t that big of a deal,” Travis mumbled, refusing to meet Kevin’s eyes. 

“It is in this world. I’m practically middle aged in hockey years!” Travis couldn’t help but chuckle at that, imagining Kevin going through a mid-life crisis and buying a van. “There you go, kid. You’ll find someone soon enough.” Kevin ruffled his hair and grabbed his empty bottle, offering him a small smile. In that moment, Travis swore he’d never let his heart go again. Love wasn’t worth the feeling of someone handing his heart back to him. How could he have done that to all the girls he dated? No wonder they all hated him afterwards. He wasn’t going through that again, not if he could help it.

He hooked up with Mat Barzal at the All-Star game without a hitch, and they kept in touch pretty well. Travis got to hear about Tito (as Mat called him) and all the shenanigans they got up to, and Mat got to hear about Kevin and how Nolan was doing. Travis kept his head down during practice and played hard through the rest of the season. At least, the rest of the season they could play. The postponement of the league made him nearly furious. They were so close! They were finally clicking like they should, and they were playing so well! Travis didn’t want to think that the last time he took the ice for the season was his birthday. They were meant to do more, but there was nothing Travis could do about it. He was lamenting that fact to Mat one night when Mat stopped him. 

“Dude, you’re just as bad as Brock. If you’re gonna keep going on like this, do it with him.” Mat said before promptly hanging up. Moments later, his phone lit up with a text and a new phone number to add to his contacts, and that was how his friendship with Brock started.

Brock was more soft-spoken than Mat, but more energetic than Nolan. He was also pissed about the season, but he was excited about the new puppy he got, and Travis got plenty of opportunities to facetime Brock just to coo at his dogs. This went on for a few weeks until Travis noticed Brock getting a little nervous during their calls. It bothered Travis more and more every day, until he finally decided to ask Brock about it.

“Hey, what’s up?” Brock answered his call shirtless in his backyard, obviously playing with the dogs.

“Hey man, I just wanted to check and see if you were okay.” Brock looked a bit confused at that.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” He asked. Travis cleared his throat, nerves making his hands shake a bit.

“You’ve just seemed a bit off lately, that’s all.” Brock blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.

“Oh, that. Yeah, I was just trying to figure out how to ask you to come visit, that’s all. The pups would be pretty excited to meet you in person.” Travis couldn’t help but grin. He could use some time away from home, and he was pretty sure that the dogs weren’t the only ones that wanted to meet him in person.

“I’d love to. When do you want me to come?”   
  


In minutes, they planned out Travis’s trip. He’d be leaving in two days and coming back in a week. Brock offered to pay for his plane tickets, but Travis refused. They joked around a bit like they normally did, and almost as soon as they hung up, Travis started packing. He couldn’t help himself, he was too excited to wait.

When he finally boarded his flight, he could barely contain his excitement. Brock was pretty cool, and Travis had been past stir-crazy at home. Unfortunately, the flight seemed to take forever. Every bit of turbulence made his heart race a bit more, but eventually the plane finally landed. He waited impatiently as the people ahead of him took their sweet time filing off the plane, and then he rushed to baggage claim only to wait even longer for his suitcase to come out. When it did, Travis snatched it off the conveyor belt and rushed to the pick-up lane to find Brock patiently waiting for him. When their eyes met, Travis’ heart leapt, and he threw his arms around Brock.

Brock’s arms wrapped around him, and Travis melted into the hug. It had been so long since he had last been held, and Brock’s embrace was comforting. He had to pull back before he wanted to, but he had a feeling that wasn’t the last hug he was going to get while he was in town. Brock seemed like a touchy guy, and Travis was perfectly fine with being the center of that physical attention.

“Here, let me get your bag,” Brock said, taking Travis’s suitcase before he could argue. 

The drive to Brock’s house was shorter than Travis expected, and filled with good music and light conversation. Once they got there, Travis was delighted to find Coolie and Milo underfoot. He immediately got down and was attacked with wet, slobbery tongues and puppy paws. He couldn’t help but laugh at the attention, and when he looked up, Brock was looking at him with a gentle expression and a smile. Travis eventually detangled himself from the dogs and followed Brock to his guest room. 

“Here you are. Go ahead and get set up, and let me know if you need anything.” With that, Brock excused himself. Travis set his suitcase down and sat on the bed. The room was comfortable, with a bookshelf in one corner and a large window next to it. The bedsheets were grey and the comforter was a fuzzy purple. He could see himself staying here a while, which was a dangerous enough thought that he immediately got up and went looking for Brock. He found him in the kitchen with his phone to his ear. 

“I hope you don’t mind pizza.” 

Travis shrugged and Brock smiled, quickly placing an order. Travis observed the way he couldn’t seem to stand still while he talked, either swaying, reaching out to touch the countertop, or shuffling his feet. Once Brock hung up, he smiled over at Travis again. 

“Let me show you the living room.”

Brock’s living room was right off of the kitchen. There was a giant couch in front of his TV and a few armchairs off to the side. The entire room seemed well lived in, but it wasn’t messy. It just felt like home. He sat down on the couch only to sink in. His face must’ve shown his shock because Brock began laughing.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty comfy couch. My mom suggested it and I trust her wisdom much more than mine.” Brock began explaining the decorations his mom said he should buy and Travis couldn’t help but smile at it all. Brock obviously loved his family and held them very close to his heart. It was endearing.

Once the pizza got there, they sat down on Brock’s weirdly comfortable couch. Brock turned on Netflix and turned to Travis.

“Wanna watch anything in particular?”

“Nah, I’m good with anything.” Travis had a feeling he’d have a hard time concentrating on anything Brock put on anyways. Brock shrugged and put on Parks and Rec before grabbing a slice of pizza. Travis tried his best not to stare as Brock washed it down with his beer, but he couldn’t say he was successful. He distracted himself with his own piece of pizza and the show. Brock laughed at the stupidest jokes, which made Travis laugh in turn. Four episodes later, the pizza was gone and their beers were drained, and they were both joking about the show.

“I’m telling you, dude, Ron Swanson is the absolute best. The mustache, the humor, he’s perfect!” Travis tried explaining, but Brock shook his head.

“Donna is the best character in the show, and you can’t convince me otherwise. Her ‘take-no-shit-but-laugh-about-it attitude balances out everyone else perfectly.” Brock said before standing up. “I’m gonna throw this stuff out, I’ll be right back.”

Travis caught himself watching his ass as he walked away and mentally shook himself. He couldn’t get caught up like this, not again. Brock was a good guy, so sweet and happy with a good sense of humor and a great body, but he could also crush Travis’ heart so easily that Travis shuddered thinking about it. He liked Brock, but he couldn’t let himself love him. It was too dangerous. 

When Brock came back, he sat closer to Travis than he had before and Travis could feel the warmth radiating off his body. It made it hard to focus on the show, but he laughed when Brock did and forced himself to not do something dumb like grab Brock’s hand or lean too far into him. Before he knew it,  _ Brock  _ was leaning into  _ him _ , and he glanced over to see that Brock had fallen asleep. He didn’t really want to wake him up, he looked so peaceful, but he couldn’t just sit there and let the man he was trying so hard not to fall in love with sleep against him without a care. 

“Brock,” Travis said, gently nudging him. “Brock, wake up. Your neck is gonna hurt if you sleep like this.”

Brock blinked his eyes open, and gazed at Travis with a sleepy softness that made a part of him melt. The moment broke when Brock stood up and stretched.

“I guess it’s a bit later than I thought. I think I’m gonna call it a night.” The end of his sentence was muffled by a yawn. Travis stood and followed Brock down the hallway.

Brock raised a hand in a sleepy ‘good night’ and shut his door. Travis wandered back to the guest room and laid down on the bed, thoughts and feelings spinning around in his head too fast for him to dissect them. He mentally shook himself and got back up. This was a problem for tomorrow-him. Right now, he needed to sleep. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and walked to the bathroom. Looking at his reflection in the mirror was a bit of a shock. His cheeks were red and his eyes were bright. He looked so happy. He shook himself again and quickly brushed his teeth before turning the light off and going back to the room. He got under the sheets and fell asleep with the image of Brock’s face on his mind.

When he woke up the next morning, Travis basked in the comfort of the bed he was in, before realizing that it wasn’t his own. He sat up and glanced around, the memories of the previous day coming back to him. Brock hugging him, the show, Brock falling asleep against him. He flopped back on the bed, collecting himself before he got out of bed. He threw the first shirt he could find and a pair of basketball shorts and wandered into the kitchen.

Brock was standing at the stove shirtless, and Travis could feel his walls start to crumble. How could he keep them solid? He had only known Brock for a short time, but it felt like ages. He could be himself around Brock without worrying, and he knew Brock felt the same. He felt safe with him. He couldn’t remember the last time he truly felt safe with someone else, but here he was, standing barefoot in Brock’s kitchen without a worry on his mind.

“Mornin’ Teeks.” Brock’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Good morning. What are you making?”

“Omelettes and bacon. I hope that’s okay.” Brock glanced at him, a hint of worry on his face. 

“That sounds delicious, thank you.”

Brock’s face broke into a grin, his eyes crinkling, before he turned back to the food.

“Go ahead and sit down, I’ll be done soon.”

Travis took a seat at the table and let his mind wander. Brock looked so soft in the morning sunlight, the muscles in his back flexing as he moved. Travis was overtaken with a strong wave of want, not only for Brock but for moments like this. He looked down at the table as he tried to reign his emotions in. He wanted to wake up to Brock making breakfast, he wanted to wake Brock up with his favorite coffee. He wanted to fall asleep against Brock on his couch without having to worry about it. He looked back at Brock to find him looking back, face soft with some emotion Travis couldn’t quite place. 

“Not quite awake yet?” Brock teased. Travis chucked and shook his head.

“I guess not.”

He glanced back down at the table and was instantly shocked to find a heart laying in front of him. Travis didn’t even react. Brock’s heart was in front of him, laying bare for the world to see. It was there for Travis, who had been working so hard to keep his own heart in that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of Brock’s heart finding him. 

“Brock?” Travis tore his eyes from the heart to look at Brock’s reaction.

Brock’s face immediately went pale and he reached out to grab the heart back.

“I’m so sorry, it’s never done that before, I didn’t even know it could, I’m so so-”

“What do you mean? Your heart hasn’t wandered before?” Travis cut Brock off, gently grabbing Brock’s heart before he could reach it.

“Never.” Brock looked uncomfortable and embarrassed, and Travis wanted to do anything to wipe that look away. He considered giving the heart back, but he remembered the promise he had made himself ages ago. 

“Can I keep it?”

Brock looked shocked at the question, but the shock slowly melted into a small smile.

“Do you want to?” He asked.

Travis took a moment before answering. He looked down at the heart in his hands, the first heart he had ever wanted to keep holding, and he made his decision. Meeting Brock’s eyes, he spoke with as much sincerity as he could.

“Yeah, I really do.”

“You should keep it, then. I mean, like I said, it hasn’t ever wandered before, so it must belong with you.” Brock was blushing, his entire face the color of roses, and Travis knew he had to keep the heart, and keep it safe. Brock was special, and apparently Travis was special to him. Travis held the heart closer to himself, examining it carefully. Its beat was strong, and Travis could almost feel the love flowing out of it. 

He inhaled deeply, overwhelmed by the feeling of Brock’s love, only to realize that his own heart was no longer beating in his chest. He looks around to find it on the counter next to Brock. Brock follows his line of sight and gently picks up Travis’ heart, cradling it close to himself. He looked back at Travis with a helpless smile and glistening eyes, and Travis knew he was going to be okay.

That day, Travis ate the best meal he had ever had with two hearts on the table in front of him and Brock’s hand in his own.


End file.
